Animal Dilemmas – Snake Eagle

Short Story

The Eagle woke up the next day to a world it knew well. With almost no surprise, no fear. It knew its place in the sky and was confident in finding food daily. It was thought how to hunt by on of the greatest eagles of all times. Its father had been a notorious, brutal bird that seemed to kill for joy. It had had the agenda to taste the blood of every kind of living being that roamed the Earth.

It has killed snakes, sheep, shepard dogs, it had even attempted to eat a giant. A small young giant but still the ambition was abnormal. It had often preached to its son that life bellow in the ground is meaningless and is only here to serve as a food supply for the gods of the sky – the eagles. The eagle fed on this one way philosophy all its life and became a slave to it.

It fed on the thought of blood of all kinds and built on it that every time it tasted a new animal it became stronger. It handed down that wisdom to its new borns and saw that only the strong ones took it close to heart. The rest doubted it. But the Eagle knew well that there was no room for doubt in the sky.

Its entire time and energy were dedicated to fulfilling its father’s legacy. All its motivation was based on it. It flew far and away tireless burning its muscles to the last thread. Searching for wild game. It scanned the earth and calculated probabilities and possibilities.

The Snake thought it was impossible for anyone to spot it in the rocky hillside. Very few animals would dare attack a full grown venomous snake. That thought gave it comfort and confidence. It was not focused on hiding, parts of it were fully exposed on the sunny white rock. The cold blooded terrestrial needed the warmth of the sun to keep a balance.

The Eagle came down like an arrow. There was not enough time for the Snake to consider the torrent of air that the loud wings incepted. The Snake just felt the Eagle’s claws penetrating its skin. As the Eagle was flying off, the Snake snapped into a knot around its legs and tightened as much as it could.

The Eagle’s smooth glide was interfered with by pain signals which reminded it that it is mortal. It poked the Snake’s knot with its beak but to no avail. The Snake only tightened more until its skin was as hard as ice. The Eagle dived down looking for a rock to land on. The Snake had focused its entire energy on its stringy muscles and kept the knot increasingly tight. The only thought it had was how to allocate more resources to supporting the knot. It didn’t think of death or demise. Deeply etched into its cold blood was the fact that fear of death invited death. So the Snake always focused one hundred percent in the task at hand performing to its best ability. It knew death was at nature’s will, which it could not control. But it could control the knot.

It knew that if it controlled the knot with all its passion it could possible break the Eagle’s legs and get free. The Eagle could feel the bones of its brittle legs bending but it was determined to win. It could let go, fly off and look for another prey but its ego didn’t allow it. Physical wounds could heal but ego could hardly be repaired in the animal kingdom.

The Eagle landed on high lonely rock and with intended momentum letting the Snake cushion the landing. That maneuver only made the Snake contract once again and and with a sharp snap the Eagle’s left foot snapped broken.

The mighty bird froze in space for a moment, spread its wings and let go. The Snake was stunned at first, it held so tight for so long that it could not just loosen up and zigzag away. The Eagle composed itself stood on one leg and summoned all its anger and wrath. It bowed down and bit the snake for the head as hard as it could. The Snake was still in trance but its muscles contracted and its tail accidentally hit the Eagle’s broken leg.

The sharp pain made the Eagle let go and freeze again. The Snake, then mildly composed, slid down in-between the rocks and vanished. The Eagle was unaware that it was a victim of its own ego. Being unexperienced with snakes, its might and strength were worthless. So it paid the price. It’s energy was nearly depleted and the flight home was difficult. Its leg recovered but its ego never did.

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